Zimbabwe fall at Agribank Cup

(05-11-2007)

HA NOI — Phung Cong Minh and Nguyen Quang Hai scored twice to help the Viet Nam Olympic team beat Olympic Zimbabwe 2-0 at the International Football Tournament, the Agribank Cup, over the weekend.

The win takes Viet Nam up to second place in the round robin tournament, just behind Uzbekistan, who beat Finland 2-0 in an earlier match at My Dinh national stadium last Saturday.

After the first 2-1 loss to Uzbekistan in the opening match last Thursday, Austrian coach Alfred Rield replaced six players on the team’s line up to grab a home win on his 58th birthday.

The hosts took the lead with the first goal just six minutes into the game against the fit African team.

Striker Nguyen Anh Duc, who trapped a pass from captain Phan Thanh Binh from centre, broke through the African defence and knocked the ball to the goal’s mouth, where Phung Cong Minh tapped it into the net.

After scoring, Viet Nam fired offensives at Zimbabwe but failed to find more goals.

Zimbabwe had chances to tie the score, but Kingtone Nkhatha and Justine Majabvi missed their chances to net the ball.

After the break, Rield sent Nguyen Quang Hai, the best scorer at the National U-21 Football Championships last month, and Huynh Quang Thanh onto the field.

Viet Nam played defensively to sustain their one-goal lead and protect against stormy attacks from the Africans.

This method helped Viet Nam discourage Zimbabwe from finding a goal during the second half.

Fifteen minutes from the final whistle, Viet Nam made the score 2-0 when Cong Minh sent a long pass to Quang Hai, who sent a stunning, low shot past Muranbadoro to the back of the net.

It was the first goal at the tournament for Hai, who had disappointed the coaching board after the first match.

Zimbabwe, who lost to Finland 3-2 in the opener, placed at the bottom.

Viet Nam will play Finland in the last match today, while Zimbabwe meet Uzbekistan.

The tournament is the last test for Viet Nam before taking on the SEA Games, hosted by Thailand, next month.

The winner takes home US$40,000 in cash at the annual tournament, while the runner-up gets $20,000 and third place $10,000. — VNS